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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. row — a line
  3. snap — to click
  4. wax — to grow
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. cue — for pool
  7. tube — a container
  8. cue — a signal
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. cue — a hint
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. clip — for paper
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. kid — child
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. last — finally
  17. row — to paddle
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. last — to go on
  20. clip — a video
  21. kid — to tease
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. clip — to cut
  24. tube — the underground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com